Friday morning Amore and Francois led devotions about honoring our parents. It was really great to hear their perspective as parents and hear about Amore’s experience with her father and the healing that has had to take place and what God has taught her about honoring our parents. I am very thankful for my parents and the way they have raised me. I haven’t always been obedient or honored them but I try my best to and I want to do even better. Even if they don’t deserve it or have to ask forgiveness here or there it is still my responsibility to honor them so that I don’t block the channel of blessing. “Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise), “that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.” Ephesians 6:2-3
The dump was just as disheartening as the first time I was there in 2011. As we stood on the cemetery grounds and looked over the area known as the Guatemala City Dump Pablo explained to us about the families that work there and how it all operates. The people working in the dump have to have an ID to enter, which helps to keep kids from the dangerous conditions. They work for about 12 hours a day but live on less than a dollar a day. When the trucks first enter the dump area the workers have to put their hand on the truck to claim the trash in it. If they claim trucks from richer areas then they get better trash to sell. The people working there live in communities surrounding the dump. Most don’t make it past age 50 because hospital wastes are dumped there and can cause infection. Rather than seeking medical care the people usually try to take care of it themselves. It is not just infection that causes an early death but also other harsh conditions like the fumes and the air they are breathing. Even the bulldozers are a danger because they don’t care who gets in the way but they just keep pushing the garbage and sometimes people with it. The smell was awful and there were vultures all over head. The cemetery and dump will most likely someday be one. In the cemetery, if someone can’t pay dues for their dead loved one then the body gets removed and thrown over in to the dump. It is sad to say, but people actually come looking for the dead bodies to take the jewels and nice items and sell them. Others in gangs will take the head to perform satanic rituals. That is why there are always vultures flying in the area to be there at the opportune time. Workers have come across almost everything working in the dump. Even though this job seems dirty and dangerous the people still look at it as a decent job because they are working hard and aren’t doing other work like being a prostitute or other things they would deem wrong.
To help some of the women around the dump, an organization called Safe Passage began empowering women to make and sell jewelry out of the recycled trash. I am wearing a ring and bracelet right now and they are so unique and beautiful. How they work goes like this, the woman will make her pieces and it will be labeled with her number and then when that piece is purchased the sale gets recorded and the money goes directly to that woman. I love this because first off you know your money is going directly to one of these women. Also I love that the Safe Passage organization works like a bank where the money can be kept safe. Some of the women’s money was being taken away by their husbands or thieves and so the organization offers to keep it safe like a bank and give them the money when they want/need it.
After I spent all my money at Safe Passage, we headed over to a church to help with their feeding program. The women who run the program never know where the food will come from that day but the Lord continues to provide. They serve about 260 children from the dump community and some homeless people every day in a cafeteria that branches off of their church. The main lady in charge is also the pastor and is very involved in spreading the gospel in different communities on the weekends and seems to always be serving. She was a really inspiring lady; her eyes were filled with light and love. What made me really sad after seeing all the kids who came to eat that day was when she told me that even when they have to close the door because they don’t have food, the kids still line up and wait. For some of them this is their only meal. She said it would only take about 800$ a month to feed the kids one meal every day but they just don’t have that support yet, so they continue to wait on God day in and day out and use all the tithe money from their church to support feeding these children. The program was birthed out of this sweet lady’s own experience growing up in a family that lived around the dump. She took care of her brothers and sisters starting at a young age and she remembers the hunger pains that raged in her stomach. She remembers going through trash to find food but always feeding her siblings first. Wow, I was just so blessed by this lady’s heart to feed these kids, and not to mention how sweet the kids were!
Every Friday that a team is at Dories Promise, an outing is organized for a specific age group. The kids take turns going on outings between the young and the older ones. This week it was the younger ones, around ages 3-7, who got to go to a children’s museum. It was so much fun to play like a kid again! The place was actually very informative too. We learned together about constellations, then recycling paper to save trees, and then there was also a cool presentation about electricity. Of course it was all in Spanish but I could tell the kids were enjoying it. When we got a chance to go off and do whatever activities we wanted, Abraham and Molly and I and a few others did bubbles and then went to the ball room. We worked hard with all the kids and the mamas and the other team members to fill the overhead bins so that the balls would rain down. Every time the alarm would sound the room would go nuts and everyone would run under the bin for the balls to fall on them. It was so fun to play with my sweet Abraham and also with the team. At one point we got in a huge ball fight and I was just laughing so hard watching everyone throw balls at each other and find such joy in it. I was making sure to duck and cover and retaliate too! After words we stopped for ice cream and you can bet that it was a little messy!
For our last evening with the kids, Amore, who teaches in Canada wanted us to put on a play in Spanish using the book “Polar bear, polar bear.” It was quite hilarious as we each played an animal and the kids had to imitate their sound back. After our little puppet show, some of the girls did a dance for us and then thanked us for coming and passed out to us a candy very popular in Guatemala. It was so sweet of them! To end our time together the kids, the mamas, the team, and the staff all had a meal together and then we ended the night with some zumba and dancing train lines. It was a blast! The laughter this week has just revived my soul!
Before my girls went to bed, I spoke with them and gave them some things to treasure while we are apart. They each told me in their own ways how they love me so much and will miss me and that God has great plans for my life, wow. I am so proud of my girls and the relationship they have with Jesus. They each are so beautiful and smart and have such big hearts for each other. The next morning Ingrid helped me translate to Abe about his gifts and my love for him. He just giggled and got so excited over his monkey blanket and pictures. Hugs and kisses were exchanged too! It was precious! Gosh I will miss my kids!
Although the constant giving of yourself may, in the natural, seem very tiring, it is actually very fulfilling. This was the common thread among the lessons that the group learned. It is written in scripture like this, “It is more blessed to give than to receive” Acts 20:35. Being in Guatemala was so refreshing. I have missed the world race because the day to day life can become so routine and I get to feeling like I lack purpose. I know God has me where I am right now with working on my masters and all, but still I just wish to be out loving and serving where there is great need. For now I will take joy as I continue to give, serve, and love right where I’m at!
THANK YOU SO MUCH TO ALL OF YOU WHO SUPPORTED THIS TRIP! I was blown away by all that the team was able to accomplish while serving the people of Guatemala and the children of Dories Promise.
